Viscount Waverley: My Lords, what assessment have the Government made of whether Egypt is about to enter the conflict directly and move, possibly at the behest of Russia, in support of Khalifa Haftar? What is HMG’s evaluation of the proximity to UK interests, including NATO operations? What is their strategy and approach?

Bishop of Salisbury: With Sudan collapsing and inflation rocketing, the Anglican Archbishop of Khartoum said recently that people would rather die of Covid-19 than of hunger. In South Sudan the Anglican Archbishop of Juba said that mortality rates were already high and, in response to the virus, hygiene and social isolation are difficult—indeed, almost impossible. The diocese of Salisbury has a long-standing partnership with the Anglican churches in those countries and we have launched an emergency appeal this month for at least £50,000 for hygiene and food. What are the British Government doing to support the improvement of hygiene and food in those countries? What does the Minister think we are learning about the motivation for our giving aid to these countries?

Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted: My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken in this debate. In the interests of time I will not go through everything, but the noble Baroness, Lady Altmann, reminded us of the whole GRG saga and that the Consumer Credit Act and provisions for the courts are the ultimate insurance against bad behaviour from banks, which has been witnessed.
My noble friend Lord German reminded us that Section 140A, 140B and 140C, and indeed the Consumer Credit Act in general, are intended to cover loopholes and lacunae and to stop banks being able to get away with inappropriate things, and in particular to stop the weaving in of other conditions.
My noble friend Lady Kramer reminded us about the culture of banks today, and the way they are failing to pass on funds to alternate lenders. So, despite the Minister’s words about how banks have reformed,  there remains a question mark over their culture because of that current behaviour in the context of coronavirus and the bounce-back loans. They appear to be putting themselves first. As my noble friend Lady Kramer said, give them a loophole and it will be used. I fear that that is too true. The noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, also indicated his concern about removing the statutory underpinning and questioned whether it was proportionate.
One or two things that the Minister said were reassuring: that the lender cannot apply any fees, which may mean that gouging cannot happen; and regarding assistance and free advice. However, looking at the detail, some other things become more worrying. It tends to be said that there are no personal guarantees, but it seems that that is not actually true: it covers only the primary residence and primary vehicle. There could be other things that would appear to come under the guarantee. The Government would seem to have made a commitment to disapply the Consumer Credit Act as part of the terms of bounce-back loans. This means that they have promised to disapply primary legislation before any legislation has been passed to allow that. That is an extraordinarily worrying precedent, no matter that we are in an emergency situation. The Government have already disapplied primary legislation and are effectively saying: “We cannot go back on what we have promised”. As a matter of principle, I think that that is something to which I quite profoundly object.
I will have a look at other things that the Minister said. I acknowledge that there are some things in there that show how the Government have tried to fill in for the action that they have taken. So maybe they are not quite so naked as I suggested, but it is still a very worrying situation. I will withdraw my amendment now, but I may wish to return to this matter on Report.
Amendment 46 withdrawn.
Amendment 47 not moved.
Clause 12 agreed.
Amendment 48 not moved.
Clause 13: Certificates of temporary exemption for public service and goods vehicles
Debate on whether Clause 13 should stand part of the Bill.